


Disappointed

by PoisonousCephalopod



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Ladynoir Bonding, Pining Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21797929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonousCephalopod/pseuds/PoisonousCephalopod
Summary: Chat Noir's reaction after Ladybug tells him the name of her crush
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 18
Kudos: 140





	Disappointed

_It’s… Adrien. Adrien Agreste.”_

“Adrien Agreste?” Chat echoed.

He should have been excited. Overjoyed.

The lucky, lucky, boy he’d been so jealous of for so long… the one who held Ladybug’s heart in his hands…

It was him.

It had been him _all along._ He could have laughed.

In fact, he did laugh, a nervous chuckle bubbling out of him before exploding into full-on laughter. It wasn't until he looked up and saw Ladybug’s horrified face that he realized how not a good move that had been and snapped his mouth shut.

“Chat!” she said--and he could’ve been wrong, but he thought her eyes looked red. “You promised!”

He held up his hands in front of his chest. “I’m sorry! I’m _so_ sorry! I promise, I wasn't laughing at you!”

She rapidly blinked the wetness away from her eyes and pursed her lips. “What _else_ is there to laugh at?”

“Umm…” he scrambled for some sort of an excuse that wouldn’t completely give him away. “It’s… hard to explain? I mean. Adrien Agreste.” he paused, nodding like an idiot. “That’s… ironic.”

Ladybug looked confused, and quite possibly still angry, like she hadn’t quite decided whether to trust his apology or not. “Ironic, Chat? Please explain to me how my having a crush on Adrien Agreste is _ironic_ ”

There was an obvious way to answer this. Just say, _because he has a crush on you too,_ and move on. He could have said that. It wouldn’t expose his identity. And if their crushes were mutual… it might even lead to something. 

But for reasons unknown, something inside him suddenly strongly rebelled at the thought of Ladybug starting any sort of a romantic relationship with Adrien Agreste.

Which was weird. Because that was exactly what he wanted. Wasn't it?

“I-I can’t really explain,” he stuttered instead. “Just… there’s some stuff about him. That’s all. I probably shouldn’t tell you,” he finished with a nod. “Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that.”

_Doctor-patient confidentiality?_

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Chat, neither of you are old enough to be a doctor.”

“It’s a figure of speech,” he said. _Why did she have to call him out on every stupid thing that came out of his mouth?_ “I’m his… his… ..Makeup... ...artist.”

And he’d done it again.

Ladybug squinted at him. “ _Makeup_ artist?”

Why had he said that? 

Oh well. Looked like he had to run with it now.

“Yup.” He nodded sagely. “Makeup artist-model confidentiality.”

“You. Chat Noir…” she said, her voice dripping doubt, “are a _makeup artist._ For Gabriel.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “What? You don’t think guys can be makeup artists?”

“No!” She immediately went red. “It’s just… I guess I didn’t have you pegged as a guy who worried about appearances. That’s all.” After a second’s pause, she realized the possible implications of that statement and went even redder. “Not that I don’t think you look good--I mean--You look fine. It’s just--the hair…”

She trailed off.

Suddenly self-conscious, he reached up and tugged on his locks, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah. The Miraculous magic sort of does whatever it wants with my hair.”

There was a sort of awkward-not-awkward silence between them for a second before Chat made himself speak again. “I really don’t care that much about fashion and stuff though, honestly. The makeup artist job is sort of a family thing.”

“Shame,” said Ladybug, surprising him with a tinkling laugh. “I _love_ fashion.”

“Funny,” he smirked. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type of girl who cares about appearances.”

She snorted, loud and unladylike, and suddenly, _gloriously,_ the awkwardness was broken. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her down to the ground, so they sat cross-legged facing each other.

“So.” he said leaning toward her. “Adrien _Agreste._ ”

“...Yeah.”

“I mean, he’s a nice guy and all, but I thought you said green-eyed blonds weren’t your type.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but she was still smiling. “I said _you_ weren’t my type, Chaton.” Her face softened. “The way I feel about Adrien isn’t about looks.”

She stared out at the skyline, a wistful expression in her eyes, and Chat could only handle it for about twelve seconds before he had to interrupt.

“You have to admit though,” he said, jumping to his feet and striking a pose. “We do look pretty… _Twin_ -ilar.”

Ladybug paused for a second, staring at him, and then groaned.

“Chat,” she said. “That was _the worst_ pun I’ve ever heard you make. I don’t even know what word that was supposed to be.”

He had to keep going. He couldn’t stop himself.

“Same excellent hair… same gorgeous green eyes…”

“Stop flattering yourself. You look nothing like Adrien.”

“I impersonated him once.” He really had no idea what his mouth was doing any more. It was like it had severed all connection between itself and his brain. “It was totally convincing.”

Ladybug looked him up and down, eyebrows raised. “ _That_ is a story you’re going to have to tell.”

Why did he keep digging himself deeper with the stupid makeup artist thing?

“Enough about me,” he said, hoping she didn’t notice the warmth in his face as he sat back down in front of her. “We’re talking about _you_ right now, Milady. You and your charming crush. Tell me, if it wasn't his stunningly spectacular good looks, that won your heart, what was it?”

He propped up his chin with his fists and looked at her expectantly.

She sighed. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

He smirked at her. “Too late to back out now.”

“It is not. I could leave right this second and there is nothing you could do to stop me.”

“I promise I’ll shut up this time.”

He meant it. He wished he could go back to him from two minutes ago and bang himself over the head with his heaviest textbook for laughing at her over this.

_Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid._

Nope, this time he was listening to Ladybug. 

There was a small part of Chat that said maybe he shouldn’t just sit here and let her tell him all about a crush that she had on _him_ , but he shushed it. He allowed himself to pretend for the moment that he Adrien Agreste really was a separate person entirely.

It wasn't hard. The version of Adrien Ladybug described sure felt like someone else. Brave. Selfless. Sensitive. Smart. Sincere. A gentleman. The kind of guy who had the guts to apologize when he accidentally offended someone. The kind of guy who gave back a miraculous because he thought it was the right thing to do.

He definitely winced at that one.

Ladybug kept going, telling him a million little details about her crush. Half of them things he didn’t remember, or had never even noticed himself. 

Whoever his lady was, he realized with a note of surprise, she had been paying a lot of attention to Adrien Agreste.

Chat almost caught himself feeling jealous.

No, strike that. He did find himself feeling jealous. Stupidly.

_Idiot. You and Adrien Agreste are the same person._

Except they weren’t, not really. Chat Noir was Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste was… his father’s version of Chat Noir. The version that was quiet and polite and smiled for the cameras and only ever did things that Gabriel Agreste wanted him to do. The version of him who had no sense of humor because puns were apparently not dignified enough for the heir to _Gabriel Agreste’s_ fashion empire.

_That_ was the version of him that his Lady had fallen in love with. 

“He sounds amazing, Ladybug.”

He couldn’t help but be more than a little bit disappointed.

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness, I've always known that I was a ridiculous italics abuser but I did _not realize_ just how many this story had until I had to go in and put in the HTML for them. I swear I used them like every two sentences. Eesh. (And then I go putting more in the endnotes. Oh me.)
> 
> I think story might be a little bit inconsistent with Adrien's characterization post season 3, but I am attached to my old headcanons and the first two seasons are my favorite anyway, so I don't care.
> 
> All comments and constructive criticism are welcome--I put a bit more effort into editing this and fine tuning the prose than I usually do, so hearing where things didn't quite land is really useful and appreciated. Thank you for reading!


End file.
